Euthanasia law needed to aid desperate: MP

Pivotal cases of desperate West Australians who ended their lives after battling terminal illnesses prove people want the option to die with dignity, federal MP Alannah MacTiernan says.

On Tuesday, Ms MacTiernan and Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale announced they would push for a private member's bill to legalise voluntary euthanasia.

It came a day after WA Police said they were satisfied no third party was involved in the death of an elderly couple in Albany.

The pair both suffered debilitating illnesses and had reportedly contacted euthanasia advocacy group Exit International about products that could end their lives.

Ms MacTiernan told Fairfax radio the deaths of the couple and 81-year-old Herbert Bernard Erickson in November 2012 showed people were being put in circumstances where they felt they had to use extreme means to end their life.

Mr Erickson's body was found on a Perth beach less than three weeks after he pleaded guilty to the murder of his disabled de-facto wife whom he cared for after she suffered a stroke.

"Modern medications are keeping people alive longer and longer and we are being confronted with people with terminal illnesses that can be very painful and very undignified in the degree of dependence that people find themselves in," Ms MacTiernan said.

Related Articles

"I don't think there's any doubt when you look at all the surveys that have been done over the last couple of decades, the overwhelming majority of people do support having that choice at the end of life to die with dignity.

"I would hope there would be a level of political maturity to accept that really this is ... a legislative program that does have the support of the community."

WA Premier Colin Barnett said he didn't believe the Commonwealth would allow euthanasia, but conceded the number of Australians who supported it had grown.

"It's an issue that is debated frequently but I doubt that any federal parliament would endorse euthanasia," he told reporters.

"Probably more people support euthanasia than they did."

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.